Charley’s War: Further Reading and Web Links

World War One Book PosterThe historical realism of Charley’s War is pinpoint accurate. Since buying it as a child, site creator Neil Emery read nearly all of the contemporary memoirs of World War One and noticed that most of the adventures Charley becomes embroiled in are real events in history.

Books

Many people have emailed us and asked for recommendations for good World War 1 books. The following list of possible sources are all brilliant books and are a great place to start.

The books are listed in no particular order of merit. All comments are from Neil Emery, unless otherwise stated.

Prolong the Agony by Jim MacGregor and Gerry DochertyProlonging the Agony
by Jim MacGregor and Gerry Docherty

Available here from Amazon

Recommended by Pat Mills

The fact that governments lie is generally accepted today, but World War One was the first global conflict in which millions of young men were sacrificed for hidden causes. They did not die to save civilisation; they were killed for profit and in the hopes of establishing a one-world government.

By 1917, America had been thrust into the war by a President who promised to stay out of the conflict. But the real power behind the war consisted of the bankers, the financiers, and the politicians, referred to, in this book, as The Secret Elite.

Scouring government papers on both sides of the Atlantic, memoirs that avoided the censor’s pen, speeches made in Congress and Parliament, major newspapers of the time, and other sources, Prolonging the Agony maintains that the war was deliberately and unnecessarily prolonged and that the gross lies ingrained in modern “histories” still circulate because governments refuse citizens the truth.

Featured in this book are shocking accounts of the alleged Belgian “outrages,” the sinking of the Lusitania, the manipulation of votes for Herbert Hoover, Lord Kitchener’s death, and American and British zionists in cahoots with Rothschild’s manipulated Balfour Declaration. The proof is here in a fully documented exposé – a real history of the world at war.

A Place called Armageddon - Letters of the Great WarA Place called Armageddon – Letters of the Great War
Edited by Michael Moynihan

Neil’s Notes: This is the book from which Pat was influenced to include the badly spelled letters home in the early issues (and the backwards ‘S’ in the early issues).

The quote he always refers to deserves to be here in full. It’s a letter home by Tommy Boorer to his sister, and is written out verbatim including original spelling and grammar. His sister’s husband has just been killed…

“There are times out here when we would rather be gone than have to put up with condiscons that we sometimes get out here at times when the germans be bombarding and the boys get knocked over one by one and they cant hit back. But it beyond me to explain the scene, see the boys come along they be crying like children and shaking like old men, still shells do burst in the air and scatter death and distrakion or a fellow may be in a gay mood and forget there is a war and walk out of cover or straighten himself up (specialy f he be a big man) after he be cramped in a dugout (for they not be built for comfort|) and show himself above a parapet – “BING” go a bullet, maybe catch that man.

“Well Nance hope for the best, a soldier (catholic) is forgiven his sins by dieying on the battlefeld so that is a comfort and it be better to be a DEAD HERO than a LIVING COWARD, when we are not fighting here it seem you are working and you always get the dirt.

But never mind girlie you are far braver than us for you have to take what is given but us we can out and forget it and if we goe… well under we are gone.”

Apart from that great letter and a couple of other interesting thing it’s a little dull. I wouldn’t say this is an essential book, but one worth having if you pick it up at a car boot sale as I did.

• Find A Place Called Armageddon: Letters from the Great War on Amazon.co.uk

Her Privates WeHer Privates We
by Frederick Manning

Neil’s Notes: Without doubt the backbone of the minor detail such as names etc. in Charley’s War comes from this book, a novel whose leading characters are called Bourne, Sergeant Tozer, Weeper, and a few others, although there the similarity certainly ends.

The Bourne in the Manning book is a million miles away from Charley Bourne but the book is worth a read all the same.

I wouldn’t say it’s a must have though, maybe that’s just me and novels they have never really interested me. And so many people recommended this book before I read it that I may have had impossible expectations for it.

John’s Jottings: Her Privates We was re-released in 2013 and you can buy it from amazon.co.uk

Storm of SteelThe Storm of Steel
by Ernst Junger

Neil’s Notes: The war from the German’s view. This is a great book by the young Leutnant Junger, a patriotic young officer who takes part in every big offensive of the war, tells of the killing of British prisoners and a terrible slaughter of the Scots on the first day of the Somme where an unknown regiment of Scots took their objectives but got no support. Junger describes them like being caught between two lots of Germans and running aimlessly up and down a sunken road like trapped rats, trying to find a way out.

Machine guns are brought up and they are slaughtered by the hundred, which leaves a bad taste in the mouth, but the book is addictive reading from an interesting perspective.

You can’t help but like Junger’s personality and humour when he talks of going over the top in 1918 in a black silk cape and stick and with every action narrates it to his men as if in a play – “and Lt Junger throws down his cape” – essential stuff.

Pat Mills must have read this book to be able to write from the German soldier’s mentality so well. Storm of Steel has been released in the Penguin Modern Classics range.

• Buy Storm of Steel (Penguin Modern Classics) on amazon.co,uk

All Quiet on the Western FrontWhile we’re on the subject of German books, Remarque’s classic All Quiet on the Western Front is actually well worth reading, because although technically it’s a novel, Henri Remarque was actually in the German Army and did serve in the areas in the book so its pretty obvious he was talking about his own experiences, well worth reading.

Germany's Western Front - BookGermany’s Western Front
by Mark Osborne Humphries

John’s Jottings: If you’re curious about what was going on behind the lines of the German forces on the Western Front, then a series of books using documents from the time might be of interest.

Germany’s Western Front by Mark Osborne Humphries, published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press, is a multi-volume series in six parts is the first English-language translation of Der Weltkrieg, the German official history of the First World War (and not to be confused with the Great War game that uses the same title). Originally produced between 1925 and 1944 using classified archival records that were destroyed in the aftermath of the Second World War, Der Weltkrieg is the inside story of Germany’s experience on the Western front.

Recorded in the words of its official historians, this account is vital to the study of the war and official memory in Weimar and Nazi Germany and although exciting new sources have been uncovered in former Soviet archives, this work remains the basis of future scholarship and considered essential reading for any scholar, graduate student, or enthusiast of the Great War. Along with accounts of operations, the book is crammed with maps

The first volume, available now, covers the outbreak of war in July-August 1914, the German invasion of Belgium, the Battles of the Frontiers, and the pursuit to the Marne in early September 1914. The first month of war was a critical period for the German army and, as the official history makes clear, the German war plan was a gamble that seemed to present the only solution to the riddle of the two-front war. But as the Moltke-Schlieffen Plan was gradually jettisoned through a combination of intentional command decisions and confused communications, Germany’s hopes for a quick and victorious campaign evaporated…

The print edition of Germany’s Western Front isn’t cheap, but the Kindle release is a reasonable price if if you’re interested in this aspect of the Great War. Certainly worth using Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature to check out your options!

Mark Humphries is an assistant professor of history at Memorial University of Newfoundland where he teaches war and society and military history. His books include The Last Plague: Spanish Influenza and the Politics of Public Health and The Selected Papers of Sir Arthur Currie. His article “War’s Long Shadow: Masculinity, Medicine, and the Gendered Politics of Trauma, 1914—1939” won the 2010 Canadian Historical Review Prize.

Soldier from the Wars ReturningA Subaltern’s War
by Charles Carrington (published under the pseudonym Charles Edmonds in 1929
An expanded account was subsequently published in 1964 as Soldier from the Wars Returning which was republished by Pen & Sword in 2006

Neil Emery was lucky enough to own a signed first edition of this. “I brought at a car boot sale for 60p! By far the best book on World War 1 ever written, so stark it’s shocking and a warning left to history as to why it must never happen again.

“Carrington writes under his fake name of Edmunds in the early editions. It’s the story of his experiences in two big actions on the Somme and Ypres. This book is so honest with its account it’s a credit to Carrington to admit some of it as in those days it was thought of as cowardice to be scared at all especially for an officer.

“I’ve simply had to copy a section to quote here from the battle of the somme, his company have taken their objective and are in a German trench…

Bang goes another bomb two bays up. I felt myself turn pale. I found I was walking slowly away from the action and danger point

“I must go tell Bickersteth,” I muttered. I got myself together and somehow found my way near the front again. Thud went a bomb three bays up. I licked my lips and felt for my revolver. Bang went a bomb two bays up. “Er, let’s get back to the barricades,” I said, not at all bravely.

Just then round the traverse of the trench came Sgt Adams, an old reservist of years service, he was smoking a pipe and had a thin smile on his face.

“What’s that sir? Go back? Nah!, let’s go forward.” he said pleasantly.

He tucked his rifle under his arm and strolled on towards the Germans. A bomb burst in the next bay. He climbed the traverse and snapped a rifle shot at some person beyond. I went and took my place next to him on the traverse.

Thirty yards away, we see a grey sleeve throw a cylinder on a wooden handle. It turns over and takes hours to approach it fell at the edge of our traverse and burst with shattering shock. Sergeant Adams throws a bomb, I do the same then someone threw a bomb and forgot to pull the pin. The Germans pull it and it comes back at us…

Corporal Matthews, who was walking along side me preoccupied and with intent, fell dead in the twinkling of an eye. I was looking straight at him as the bullet struck him and am profoundly affected by the remembrance of his face, although at the time I hardly thought of it. He was alive then he was dead – the back of his head blown out, with nothing human left in him.

Later Pratt was hit in the same place, his head was shattered – spatterings of his brain lay floating on the pool of blood under him but though he had not been conscious since the bullet struck him he refused to die.

An old corporal looked after him, held his body and arms, which writhed and fought feebly as he lay. It was two hours before he died, two hours in July sunshine, in a crowded place with two dozen men in a ditch ten yards long and five wide, reeking with the smell of sweat and blood, while all the time the soothing voice of the corporal, shushing him like a baby, a gurgling and a moaning came from his lips, now high and liquid, then low and dry – a death rattle fit for all of you most bloodthirsty of novelists

As you can see he has a way with words that is simply amazing, a rare book but one well worth finding. I seem to remember, though it was reprinted in the 1990’s.

• Buy Soldier from the Wars Returning from amazon.co.uk

Covenant with Death
by John Harris

Neil’s Notes: The tragedy of the first day of the Somme in a very well researched Novel. An extremely sad book for obvious reasons. More than a novel, Harris weaves veterans first hand accounts, a lot of which are lifted from The First Day on the Somme: 1 July 1916 by Martin Middlebrook, and retells them from the standpoint of a central character, worth reading.

• You may be able to find Covenant with Death from amazon sellers

deaths-menDeath’s Men
by Dennis Winter

Neil’s Notes: A compilation of quotes and first hand accounts culled together (some of them unreleased letters at the Imperial War Museum) to cover every subject under the sun, with chapters on ‘The Front’, ‘Into Battle’, ‘Under Fire’, ‘Death’ etc. Original and highly informative way of telling the soldier’s experience.

It may be a little detailed for some people. For instance, there is a whole chapter dedicated to describing what a five point nine shell sounds like mid-trajectory.

• Buy Death’s Men: Soldiers of the Great War from amazon.co.uk

The Long Trail: Soldiers Songs and Slang 1914 - 18The Long Trail: Soldiers Songs and Slang 1914 – 18
by Eric Brophy and John Partridge

Neil’s Notes: This is a good book and no doubt the one that Pat Mills used to get the soldiers marching song lyrics from. It covers most songs sung by the British in the trenches, complete with outrageous lyrics. This book also includes a World War 1 soldiers slang glossary which is very good reading, it has the origins of most of the slang we use today. ‘Jumping the gun’ apparently comes from advancing too quickly into a creeping barrage!! A goldmine of info.

• Buy The Long Trail: Soldiers Songs and Slang 1914 – 18

The War UndergroundThe War Underground
by Alexander Barrie

Neil’s Notes: The mining of Messines Ridge (in which Charley became a clay kicker) must have been based around this which includes detailed personal accounts by officers and men and is a very interesting book, highlighting the dreadful conditions these tunnel diggers faced on the western front. It contains details of tunnel breakthroughs and hand to hand fighting in the dark. Very scary stuff. Vivid descriptions of the blowing up of tunnels while the other side were working – not for the claustrophobic.

• Buy War Underground: The Tunnellers of the Great War from amazon.co.uk

The Monocled Mutineer
by William Allison and John Fairley

Neil’s Notes: The Etaples Mutiny storyline (the camp which contains ‘The Bull Ring’ where Charley and Co. join the revolt against the brutal re-training ground.) was based on this, the true story of Percy Toplis, deserter, mutineer and rogue. (Mills based Blue’s character on Toplis).

A good book written from the only eyewitness account by Lady Angela Forbes, who wrote a detailed pamphlet on the mutiny when she returned to England, so well worth reading if only just for that. It also contains the first hand account of the young officer who led the 50 men with fixed bayonets to the bridge over the River Canache and set them up as a picket, only to be faced with around 2000 Scots demanding to be let through into the town. A tense standoff ensued after which the young Officer waved the mob through and violence was minimised. (Charley makes up part of this picket in the strip).

• Buy The Monocled Mutineer (Book) from amazon.co.uk

You may also like the The Monocled Mutineer TV series

For the Sakes of Example: Capital Courts Marshall 1914-1918 The TruthFor the Sakes of Example: Capital Courts Marshall 1914-1918 The Truth
by Anthony Babbington

Neil’s Notes: Detailed book listing every single execution carried out by the British Army during the Great War. It includes excerpts of the original case, background of the victims and the reasons. It’s a very sad story, when you consider that 90 per cent of these lads were suffering from shellshock and had given good service before their ‘crime’ excellent book named after a comment Haig made underneath his signature on a condemned soldier’s death certificate.

• Buy For the Sake of Example from amazon.co.uk

They called it PasschendaleThey called it Passchendale
1914 – Days of Hope
The Roses of No Man’s Land

All by the fantastic author Lyn Macdonald

Neil’s Notes: Arguably the best modern writer on the subject. Unbelievably well researched books all done with the quotes of over 350 veterans she interviewed during the 1970’s and early 80’s. It is these who tell the story, with Macdonald cleverly placing them in the context of the overall battles. She’s fantastic and all of her books are essential reads, not least of all To the Last Man: Spring, 1918 which is concerned with the German’s final offensive – Operation Michael in May 1918.

Buy Somme from amazon.co.uk
• Buy They called it Passchendale from amazon.co.uk
• Buy 1914 – Days of Hope from amazon.co.uk
• Buy The Roses of No Man’s Land from amazon.co.uk

Goodbye to all ThatGoodbye to all That
by Robert Graves

An autobiographical work that describes firsthand the great tectonic shifts in English society following the First World War, Robert Graves’s Goodbye to All That is a matchless evocation of the Great War’s haunting legacy, published in Penguin Modern Classics.

Neil’s Notes: Good book generally although Graves is a little ‘up himself’ in the telling of his war, not a likeable bloke really, but I still love the title. Most memorable for his utter damnation of Sassoon over his decision to refuse to go back to France.

• Buy Goodbye to all That from amazon.co.uk

The War the Infantry Knew by JC DunnThe War the Infantry Knew
by JC Dunn

Neil’s Notes: Now, this is very rare and utterly brilliant. It’s compiled by JC Dunn the medical CO of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and battalion that Frank Richards, Edmund Blunden, Sassoon and Graves were in. It’s a day to day diary by all the officers who served in the Battalion, to keep the action going the narrative is handed to the next officer who picks up his month-or-so-entry and so on throughout the entire war.

Dunn contacted all the men under his command after the war asking for a contribution and the book took years to compile. Sassoon writes his own excellent chapter describing when he single handedly captured half a mile of the infamous German ‘Frankfurt Trench’ in early 1917. An outstanding book, last republished in 2001.

• Buy The War the Infantry Knew from amazon.co.uk

Old Soldiers Never Die
by Frank Richards

This is another essential book that has been reprinted lately (one of the very few memoirs written by an enlisted man rather than an officer). Richards went through every single major battle of the war and survived unscathed(apart from a bad case of piles). All of his mates were either killed or wounded and he has many near misses.

Not shy about admitting ‘going with a whore’ in the back areas, it’s a pull-no-punches book and a-must-get-first book.

Charley’s Captain Snell may come from this book as Richards CO is very much like him – they called him Buffalo Bill due to his waving his gun at his own men, and certainly not to just threaten them either. He is a terror of a man, Richards tells of him and his mates praying to god to ‘take up his soul’ at the hands of a high explosive shell so they can have some peace.

A truly great book with some fantastic Edwardian soldier’s slang like ‘Bun Puncher’– (teetotaller) and ‘bible-puncher’ or ‘man carrying a brick’ (a Religious soldier).

He refers to his mates with nicknames for example, there’s ‘The Actor’ ‘The Teacher’ ‘The Old Soldier’ and ‘The young Soldier’ All old pre-war professional soldiers with their own special tricks of getting out of parades and hard work, as soon as they reach a new position they are off ‘on the scrounge’ nicking the neighbouring battalions kit, etc.

Most memorable is his mate Billy who upon arrival in france after spending years stationed in India starts trying to converse with the french in pidgin Hindustani ‘They won’t understand that they’re French’ says Frank, ‘Oh they understand alright they all speak the same language, these bloody foreigners.’ Brilliantly captured vignettes of a lost culture. They constantly play tricks on each other and their humour becomes a way of surviving the grim Battles of the war. Great entertaining read.

• Buy Old Soldiers Never Die from amazon.co.uk

A Victorian Son: An Autobiography 1897 – 1922
by Stuart Cloette

Neil’s Notes: Another of my favourites, Cloette a great writer, very descriptive and he is a somewhat eccentric individual in the book which makes it even more gripping. Here’s a taste of it.

“The Germans cheek lay alongside the butt, I could see the black hole of the muzzle. I could see the point of the bayonet that was the focus of everything, the man the rifle ending at the steel point, the full weight of it ending in nothing bigger or sharper than my mother embroidery scissors, a point is a point afterall.

“I moved toward him with my pistol, his rifle followed me – why did he not shoot? The muzzle followed me, why hold his fire? I suddenly ran in towards him quicker, he fired, I spun around and sat down on the ground – I felt no pain at all. It had felt as if someone had hit me with a wooden mallet, now he came for me – the bayonet was lowered i got the full perspective the big man, the rifle, the bayonet he became an enormous giant, the rifle a battering ram, the bayonet a lance bearing down on me.”

This is a great book as you can see, even if he does talk a hell of a lot about wanting to have sex with a whore, a little too much not to worry a little about his sanity at times. Then again after the above who could blame him?

• Buy A Victorian Son: An Autobiography 1897 – 1922 from amazon.co.uk

Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man
Sherston’s Progress
Memoirs of an Infantry Officer

by Siegfried Sassoon

Neil’s Notes: Well worth the read but don’t expect great writing. I think (and I may be shot for saying this) Sassoon thought he was a better writer than he actually was. As a poet, Wilfred Owen dwarfed him, as a writer he’s just ok. His narrative in Dunn’s book (see above) is the best thing I’ve read of his. Sherston’s Progress is the story that the script for the movie Regeneration was culled from, where he and Owen meet at the mental hospital in Scotland for shell shocked officers. Great movie, if a little tiresome as a book.

My main reason for liking the guy is his letter he wrote to The Times refusing to go back to France because of the waste of lives for no gains at all, sending his Military Medal back in protest. This was incredibly brave and anarchic behaviour. The only gripe I have with him is that he did go back after backing down, he fitted the mould everyone had put him into as the the “strained and unwell” war hero, “He’s not thinking straight” etc. Why? who knows, least of all him I think.

• Buy Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man from amazon.co.uk
• Buy Sherston’s Progress from amazon.co.uk
• Buy Memoirs of an Infantry Officer from amazon.co.uk

Neil’s Notes: These are just some of the books I’ve read where something jogs my memory back in time to Charley’s War and I realise I had been educated already. Sometimes the tragedy of World War 1 makes me wish Pat had made it all up. Sadly, truth is much stranger than fiction and a whole lot more shocking.

More Books…

The First Day on the Somme: 1 July 1916
Martin Middlebrook

Essential Reading

In Flanders Fields
by Leon Wolf Essential Reading

Pals by Various Authours

A great series of books about the Pals battalions published by Leo Cooper – series includes Leeds, Salford, Bradford, Liverpool.

• The Great War – I Was There!

Magazine periodical from 1939 made up entirely from first hand accounts from every theatre of the war, these are relatively easy to find on ebay.com and well worth investing in as they are currently quite cheap and a wealth of information not found anywhere else. They were never reprinted-and ran for exactly fifty issues covering every year in order. Highly recommended. Has such gems as an interview with the man who fired the first rifle shot of the war and the last man to leave the beaches when the British evacuated Gallipoli. My advice is if you like this kind of reading you wont get more in any book as you would by investing in some of these. Brilliant.

The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War One
Editor-n-Chief Brigadier Peter Young, Published by Marshall Cavandish Corp. Copyright 1984

Battleships of World War One, An Encyclopedia of the Battleships of all Nations
by Antony Preston and Lionel Leventhal Ltd. 1972

The Nations At War 1914 Edition
by Willis J. Abbott, published by Leslie-Judge Co. publishers New York, Copyright Doubleday, Page & Co. 1914

Testament of Youth
by Vera Brittain

Imperial War Museum Book of the Somme
by Malcolm Brown

Eye deep in Hell – Trench Warfare in World War 1
by John Ellis

War against War
by Ernst Freidrich

Horrific pictorial book showing the effects of shells, bullets and bayonets with excellent anti-war slogans and captions – unfortunately very hard to find. Contains some extremely graphic and gory photos. Not for the faint-hearted.

• World War One in Photographs
by Adrian Gilbert Consultant editor: John Terraine, Published by Amber Books, Copyright 2000

First World War – A Complete History
by Martin Gilbert

A Photo History of World War One
by Philip J. Haythornthwaite, Arms and Armor Press, Copyright 1993

Artillery
by Ian Hogg and John Batchelor, Published by arrangement with Ballantine Books Inc., Copyright 1972

Price of Glory – Verdun
by Alistair Horn

• The Dreadnoughts
by David Howarth and the Editors of Time Life Books, copyright 1979 by Time Life Books

The First World War
by John Keegan, Published by Alfred A. Knoph, Copyright 1989

Ballantines Illustrated History of the Violent Century Book Number 19 – The Opening Moves August 1914
by John Keegen, Copyright 1971

British Butchers and Bunglers of World War One
by John Laffin, A Sutton Publishing Book, Copyright 1988

True World War One Stories
Compiled by John E Lewis

Great Battles of World War I
by Anthony Livesey, Introduction by Major-General Sir Jeremy Moore, Published by Macmillan Publishing Company, Copyright 1989

World War One
by David Shermer, Copyright Octopus Books Limited 1973

Jutland – The German Perspective by V E Tarrant

The Great War,1914-1918 a Pictorial History by John Terraine, First Published 1965 by Hutchinson and Co. Copyright 1965

No Man’s Land by John Tolland

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman, Copyright 1962, published by the Macmillian Co.

The Experience of World War One by J.M. Winte, Copyright 1989 Equinox (Oxford) Ltd.

Flawed Victory – Jutland by Keith Yates

Web Links

Web Links: Comics Links

Creator Interviews

Geek Syndicate: Pat Mills talks Charley’s War (MP3)
Pat Mills talks about Charley’s War at London’s Cartoon Museum in November 2008. More info here: GS Exclusive: Pat Mills talks Charley’s War at The Comic Museum

Battle Sites

Best of Battle
Moose Harris’ superb Battle site with huge amounts of information about its strips and creators

Colonel Marble’s Battle Site
Mark Jarvis’ superb Battle Picture Weekly website. Recommended.

Johnny Red
A work of great dedication. This is a sub-section of Moose Harris’ Action site. Particularly interesting source of some great Joe Colquhoun artwork. A must see.

The Sevenpenny Nightmare: Action
Website about Battle’s sister publication Action, put together by Moose Harris.

General British Comic Sites

26 Pigs
This general British comics site has its own section on Battle and a ‘Memories’ page.

Comics UK
Everything there is to know about British Comics.

British Comic Art
Information about the unsung creators (mainly artists) of British comics from the 1950’s to 1970’s.

downthetubes
British comics news and features, including a tribute to Battle artist Mike Western and interviews with many DC Thomosn staffers.

What a Lovely War
A great article on comics and Word War 1

Comic Creators

Pat Mills (Facebook)
Pat Mills, author of Charley’s War, nicknamed ‘the godfather of British comics’, is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since.

Steve Beeny – Nazca Studios
Ex-pat and all-round mate of the Charley’s War site since the start, Steve’s getting his thing together and here is his brilliant site taking in his interests and artwork. Recomended.

Great War Web Links

• BBC: World War One

Site set up to cover the 2014 centenary of the outbreak of the war.

The Great War in a different light
A mass of first hand accounts about every period of the War. Essential site.

Shot at Dawn
Essential website promoting the menu of the 300 odd British Soldiers executed for cowardice in the war.

Great War Discussion Forum
Excellent place to discuss the subject. Recommended.

The Western Front Association

The British Army In The Great War
Excellent World War 1 resource site by Chris Baker. Recommended.

 

Cloth Hall Ypres

 

 

First World War Official Photographs
Some of the photographs featured on this site were used by Joe as the basis of scenes in Charley’s War. His daughter Jane recalls him poring over many reference books, as well as getting copious reference from Pat Mills. See also “Visual Realism in Charley’s War” by Neil Emery

Old Contemptible

Iron Harvest
Casualty family histories, books maps and battlefield information.

The Regimental War Path
History of Regiments/Divisions

Kitchener’s Men – A 1914-18 Resource Site

The Great War Online

The Diggers
Belgian World War 1 Archaeology Group

First World War.com
A multimedia history of World War One.

An Unfortunate Region
Dutch World War 1 site [in English]

The “Archaeology” of the Western Front 1914-1918
Excellent archaeology site by Nils Fabiansson.

Henry Williamson Society
Key author who served in World War 1 and wrote numerous books and novels.

Pipers Memorial, Longueval
Project to place Pipers memorial on the Somme

Picardie 14-18
Excellent French site dedicated to the Somme battlefields.

Hello Tommy
Site with much useful information on visiting the battlefields.

World War 1 Links at Webfanatix
Useful collection of links to World War 1 sites.

New Zealand in the Great War
Lots of interesting material on the NZ Division.

Ypres World War One Pages
Excellent site by Simon Farr on the battlefields in Flanders.

Salonika Campaign Society
Organisation dedicated to the Salonika campaign.

Military Fortifications of the World
Resource site for military fortifications with much World War One material.

Silent Witnesses
A guide to the First World War cemeteries and memorials on the Western Front.

Ypres 1914-1918
Site devoted to the battlefields in Flanders.

The Diggers’ War
Excellent site describing the Australian contribution to the war on the Western Front. Recommended.

The Centre for First World War Studies, Birmingham University
Study centre which welcomes membership. Recommended.

Remembering The Great War: The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association
Nice history site for the RDF.

The Great War in Flanders Fields
Excellent website covering the battlefields in Flanders. Recommended.

Cecil Slack and the Great War
Site based around the letters of Cecil Slack, 10th East Yorks.

War Graves Photos
Service offering photos of World War 1 war graves, memorials and cemeteries.

World War One: 1914-1918
Dutch site in English, with good links.

Trench Maps
Excellent site reviewing the Trench Map CD Rom and suggesting other possibilities.

Signallers in the Great War
Information on Signals work and equipment.

Cross and Cockade
Society for those interested in the war in the air.

Your Loving Brother Albert
The letters of Albert French, killed at Ypres aged 16. Recommended.

Western Front Association

The Last Post Association
Official website for the committee which organises the Last Post at the Menin Gate. Recommended.

Salient Points
World War 1/World War 2 website with battlefield information and books.

Lancaster Military Heritage Group
This site contains all the material of a very comprehensive War Memorial  project commenced in 2002 and ending in 2005 with the Lancaster City celebration of the end of the war in Europe on  8th May 2005.  A book, The Last Post was published, along with a data CD “Reveille”. The Project was awarded the accolade of the designation “Queen’s Jubilee Project”.  The proceeds from selling the Book and CD amounting to over £4000.00 were donated to The Armed Forces Memorial Appeal which funded the  Memorial to service personnel killed since World War Two built at the National Arboretum near Lichfield in Staffordshire.

World War One War Poets

Counter – Attack
World War 1 War Poets.

Wilfred Owen Story and Gallery
34 Argyle Street, Wirral  – the first permanent exhibition devoted to the First World War soldier and poet, who was born in Birkenhead.

 

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